This invention relates generally to amusement watercraft, and in particular to a passenger boat ride in which passenger boats are propelled along a submerged guide channel from a ground level launch or from an inclined launch across or around a watercourse.
Amusement parks and theme parks such as Six Flags Over Texas, Opryland U.S.A., Cedar Point, Carowinds, Busch Gardens, Geauga Lake, Elitch Gardens and many others feature various watercraft rides that are guided safely through natural and man-made waterways. Some watercraft rides that are currently popular include a floating gardens ride, a river rapids ride, a log flume ride and a mill chute ride.
In a typical watercraft ride, a passenger boat is guided along a water channel from a passenger loading station to one or more intermediate stations and back to the passenger loading station. Such boats are usually propelled in part by water currents, gravity or passenger manpower, although some are propelled by motor-driven chains. Generally, variations such as music, sound effects, lighting effects, stage props and costumed characters enhance the entertainment value of the ride.
Some dominant concerns in the operation of such rides is the creation of a sense of fun and excitement while maintaining passenger safety, reliable equipment operation and expedited handling of passengers during loading and off-loading.
Conventional watercraft amusement rides are described in the following patents:
These patents disclose various watercraft amusement rides in which a passenger boat is propelled through a flume or guided down an inclined launch, and then recovered. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 849,970 discloses an inclined launch in which a pair of passenger boats are winched up dual tracks by sprocket-driven chains, are reversed on a turntable and then permitted to descend the launch by the force of gravity along the inclined tracks into a splash lake. The boats are guided by wheels along the guide tracks during descent.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,830,161 discloses a flume boat ride having dual launch chutes that guide amusement boats through a shallow body of water. A similar boat ride is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,404,635 in which a pair of passenger boats are guided from an elevated passenger loading station along dual tracks into a waterway.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,392,434 discloses an amusement boat ride in which a passenger boat is pulled by a chain drive to a launch station above a turbulent waterway. The passenger boat is then released from the chain drive and travels by gravity on guide wheels that roll along a guide track.
Conventional watercraft rides as exemplified by the patents discussed above broadly disclose the concept of guiding one or more amusement boats from an elevated launch into a waterway.
The operators of amusement parks are constantly striving to provide safe, yet thrilling and entertaining boat rides. Accordingly, there is a continuing interest in providing novel watercraft rides that offer passengers a memorable and exciting ride experience under closely controlled, safe operating conditions.
The amusement boat ride according to a first embodiment of the present invention is a simulated boat race in which a pair of racing boats compete in forward and return heats. Novel combinations of sudden acceleration/deceleration, high velocity travel, reversal of movement, exposure to lighting effects, sound effects, water spray and group competition provide a sense of excitement and fun. The passengers of each boat are subjected to high launch velocity, high speed hydroplaning across a splash lake, and giant water spray rooster tails that, in the spirit of good fun, spray onto passengers of the competing boat as well as onto nearby spectators. The passenger boats are propelled along parallel guide channels from one launch station to the other by linear induction motor that are structurally integrated with the passenger boat undercarriage and the submerged guide channels.
According to an alternative amusement ride of the present invention, a pair of passenger boats are launched from a first pair of inclined launch ramps and are propelled by linear induction motors along guide rails into a shallow splash lake. The passenger boats are then accelerated along the parallel guide channels by the linear induction motors so that the boats hydroplane across the splash lake. The linear induction motors propel the passenger boats partially up a second pair of inclined launch ramps on the opposite end of the splash lake to a predetermined return launch elevation.
Upon reaching the return launch elevation, the direction of thrusting force is reversed and the passenger boats are propelled rapidly down the inclined launch ramps with the passengers facing away from the direction of return travel. The passenger boats are then propelled along the guide channels across the shallow splash lake at hydroplaning speed, followed by coasting at a reduced speed to the passenger loading station.
In each embodiment, the passenger boats are stabilized by centering wheels and guide rollers that travel along submerged rails that run in parallel along the guide channels. In one arrangement, the linear induction motors include stators that are mounted laterally offset from the guide rails and in tandem relation with each other along opposite sides of each guide channel. In another arrangement, the linear induction motor stators are mounted on the rail support structure and vertically offset and centered beneath the undercarriage assembly in tandem relation with each other along the rail guide structure. In this arrangement, a reaction plate is attached to the undercarriage assembly and projects vertically into the stator flux slots.
Each linear induction motor includes a stator having a linear magnetic flux slot for receiving a reaction plate. The passenger boat is attached to an undercarriage assembly which is movably coupled to the guide rails by the centering wheels and rollers. A pair of reaction plates are attached to the undercarriage assembly and project laterally into the stator flux slots. Each stator, when energized with AC electrical current, produces electromagnetic flux waves which travel longitudinally through each flux slot. The electromagnetic forces imposed on the reaction plates produce linear thrust which drives the undercarriage assembly and passenger boat along the guide rails.